What is an otaku?

Answer 1

"Otaku" is a general term for a person who forsakes the rigors of daily life (such as work, school, etc) in order to focus more intently on his or her field of interest. In most cases, this interest is in an artistic field, such as writing or drawing.

Over the years, otaku has come to describe an obsessive fan of a particular form of media. For example, an anime otaku would be someone who obsesses over Japanese Cartoons (manga), to the point where other necessities of life (such as a job, family, and other responsibilities) are neglected or ignored.

OtaGamer Says: This answer is not completely accurate. An otaku literally means one who has a hobby. For example, someone who plays a lot of sports could be called a sport otaku, just like someone who likes horror movies could be called a horror otaku. However, the word otaku is mostly used to describe a fan of Japanese animation, or anime. In Japan, it usually has a negative connotation, since otaku in Japan, though numerous, are usually seen as socially akward or unpopular. Many fans of aime in America use the word otaku to describe themselves, and are unaware of the negative meanings of the word. Because of this, many Japanese peope are understandably confused when someone describes themselves as an otaku, or is proud to be known as an otaku. Many Americans who don't watch anime are unaward of the differences between anime and American cartoons. While Bugs Bunny or Tom and Jerry are about sensless violence and humor, anime can tell emotionally moving and phsycologically thrilling stories about romance, comedy, mystery, fantsy, Science Fiction, horror, or adventure. This is understadable, since the most well-known anie outside of Japan are mostly child-oriented, like Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, or Naruto. Most otaku prefer the original Japanese subtitled versions of anime, since many anime, such as Yugioh or Pokemon, are heavily censored, either beause of adult-material, or many are censored beause the creators try to erase any Japanese references, which irritates many. For example, in Pokemon, there is a now-infamous scene where Ash was eating rice balls, a traditional Japanese food. In the Americna version, the animation was unchaged, but Brock says, " Boy! I love jelly donuts!". There is another sene where a rice ball was replacd with a large sandwich. However, some instances are unneeded, such as one infamous scene where 4Kids Entertainment, known for heavy censorship of Japanese material, changed the color of a black character so that he appeared to be white. Also, one characters cigars are replced with a lolipop, confusing children when he would often blow out smoke from his mouth. Anyway, if you are interested in otaku culture, check out some anime or anime conventions.

Answer 2

An otaku is a Japanese term used to describe someone who is very passionate about a particular hobby or interest, particularly in the context of anime, manga, and Video Games. It can sometimes have a negative connotation in Japan, but it is often embraced as a term of self-identification in other parts of the world.

Answer 3

It is a japanese term and word for a group of young people who are obsessed with technology and know everything about technology but who have awful social and people skills.